Pakistan will require at least 81,000 new schools in the next 20 years in the wake of rising population and dismal condition of educational institutes in the country, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF).
In a report, the UN highlighted the dismal condition of schools in different parts of the country and growing illiteracy.
The report relays that the province of Punjab will require 35,000 schools in the next 20 years whereas Sindh will need 25,000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 14,000 and Balochistan 7,200.
It also adds that one out of four children between the age of 5 to 16 is out of school. The percentage breakdown depicts that 22% boys and 31% girls are not enrolled in Punjab.
Similarly, 46% girls are out of school in Sindh and 40% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The report further states that more than half of the overall female population in Balochistan has no access to schools.
A Human Rights Watch report last year in November had stated that Pakistan’s school system was in a crisis, with a lack of government facilities creating “education deserts” for poor children, especially girls.
It said one-third of girls across the country were not attending primary school, compared with 21% of boys. “By the ninth grade, just 13% of girls are still in school.”
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report titled “Shall I Feed my Daughter or Educate Her?” observed that most of the serious barriers to education lie within the school system. “A chronic lack of investment in education has led to a shortage of government schools, particularly girls’ schools. Other factors include prohibitive school fees, corporal punishment, poor quality schools in the public and private sector, a lack of regulation and corruption.
